Through Clearest Crystal
by CityGirl13
Summary: On that fateful night that started it all Sarah's best friend decided to come over and keep Sarah company during her babysitting ordeal. Had Eve Greyson known what mysteries would be revealed by stepping through the Labyrinth's doors she would never have left home. It is too late now. The Labyrinth has her again, and it isn't letting go until she fixes what she broke millennia ago.
1. Cry-a-Baby

**Chapter 1: Cry-a-Baby**

Eve Greyson took another peek through her bedroom curtains at her neighbours' driveway, and gave a frustrated little sigh when she saw that the car was still parked there. Turning away and flopping back down onto her window seat, she glanced up at the clock on her mantelpiece. Sarah was already late, Eve wondered what had distracted her this time, and gave a slight wince at the thought of the telling off she'd get when she returned home.

In an effort to pass the time, as well as procrastinate packing up her room, she drifted over to her vanity table and took a seat. One wide green eye regarded her reflection critically, while the other remained hidden behind a fringe of thick blond hair. Her mother hated that fringe. She was forever pushing it back and saying;

"Oh Evie, you have such beautiful eyes, why do you hide them?"

Whenever Eve protested that she liked her fringe, because it hid the birthmark on the left side of her forehead, her mother would only sigh as she let the hair fall back down over Eve's eye.

The rest of her hair fell down her back in a mess of curls that she had come to achieve a love-hate relationship with over the eighteen years of her life. Running a brush through it enough times to sort out the big tangles, she set to pulling it back into a fishtail plait. Eve had no idea where people had ever had the patience to do the whole '100 strokes of the brush' thing, even when procrastinating she didn't feel like she had the time for that.

She looked around her room as she braided, taking in the half-ness of it all. Half of her posters taken down and put away, half of her clothes put into storage, half her suitcase already pre-packed. Her room looked like what her life felt it was doing, emptying.

Headed off to college in a weeks' time, surely she should be excited about it like all the other kids going off this year. She shouldn't be dreading the excitement of a new place, new friends, and a life away from home. It wasn't exactly those things that had made her leave her packing to this last minute, the idea of all that still _did_ excite her. She just wished she wasn't going away to lock herself into more education for four years studying something she knew would numb her mind to non-existence.

"You went along with it," she muttered at her mirror image.

She could see her piano reflected in the room behind her, and a feeling of pre-loss swept over her. Her parents had permitted her to take her guitar and flute, but had drawn the line at the piano. She supposed that was fair enough, but considering she had had the instrument since she was young, a high level of attachment had built up over the years. The first instrument she had played, the first thing to truly inspire her love of music, her friend and confidant to which she poured out her heart and soul. Nothing was truly as therapeutic to her as playing it out through music. Sarah had her games and her stories to take her mind off the things in life which troubled her, and Eve had her music.

Turning her gaze from the piano, she wrinkled her nose critically at the sloppy work she had done on her hair. Somehow it always worked better when Sarah did it. Eve often joked with her friend that Sarah used her magic powers to will Eve's hair into obedience. Eve often wished for the straight brown locks that Sarah possessed, but with the amount of times Sarah had also told Eve that she wanted her blond curls, she supposed she had to attribute it to the 'grass is greener on the other side' way of thinking.

As if thinking about her best friend had been a sign, Eve heard the car start up next door.

She shot up from her seat and ran to the window, pulling back her curtains to check the street. Yes, there was Sarah's father's car pulling out of the drive, and heading down the street. Eve waited until she saw it round the corner, before grabbing her coat and tearing off down the stairs.

"Bye mum! Bye dad!" she called out as she shoved her feet into her ankle-boots.

"Where are you going?" her dad inquired, poking his head around the living room doorframe to address her.

"I'm headed over to Sarah's to keep her company," Eve replied.

Her father frowned, "How's that packing going?"

"_Dad_," she sighed exasperatedly, "I'll get it done!"

"I'm sure," he arched an eyebrow critically.

"Love you both!" Eve said; ducking out of the front door before more pestering could happen.

The dash between the houses didn't even take a moment, but Eve's coat hood was still quite damp by the time she reached the shelter of Sarah's front porch. Hastening up the stairs, she didn't even bother to knock before entering the house. When the girls knew that their parents were out, formalities tended to go out the window.

"Sarah? Where are you?" she shouted; shrugging out of her coat, and hanging it up on the rack.

"In my room!" her friend called back.

Eve bit her lip. Uh oh, there had been a fight before Sarah's father and step-mother had left.

She heard Toby crying from the main bedroom as she made her way up the stairs, but hoping that he'd soon calm down, she went to her friend first. The two of them were used to Toby crying by now, he normally stopped as soon as one of them actually went into the room.

"Hey," she said softly when she entered Sarah's bedroom, "I waited until I saw the car leave."

That had become a necessity for the girls, after one memorable incident when Sarah's step-mother had accused them of being too distracted with each other to look after Toby.

"Hey," Sarah replied sulkily; staring dismally at her reflection.

Eve sat down on the bed, and started playing with Charlie Bear; "What happened?"

"She's so horrible!" Sarah exclaimed, turning around and slouching over the back of her chair to face Eve, "I was only a little bit late, and she practically bit my head off about it! They always give me no notice when they're going out, it's like they just expect that I'll always be there to do what they want! Like I'm a slave!"

"What were you doing?" Eve inquired.

"A scene in the park," Sarah held up her battered copy of 'Labyrinth'.

"Can you remember that line yet?"

"No," Sarah sighed, "It always mucks me up that one! Mum says that actors always have one thing which they stumble over most in a script though, and she says to just keep practising. Not like _her_, she just things it's a waste of time and I should focus on 'important things'. Urgh! You're so lucky you're moving away from home soon, Eve."

"It's not all good, my parents wasn't exactly flash on what I want either," she said to her younger friend, "And I get the feeling that I'll miss high school a bit,"

"But you'll be at college, away from parents, away from annoying little siblings," Sarah argued.

"You're right about the parents thing, but I don't have little siblings, except for you."

Sarah glowered, "Don't rub it in."

"I might feel better if I was actually studying music, or just playing music and not studying," Eve noted, "If you want, we can run through 'Labyrinth' tonight."

"Can I dress you up?" Sarah inquired; getting a glint in her eye that Eve was all too familiar with.

"Why do you think I'm wearing this?" Eve held out the skirt of her white dress, "It's to save myself your manic costume obsession."

Sarah stuck her tongue out, but was grinning at last, "You ruin my fun."

"Just glad to make you happy again," Eve flopped back to lie on the bed with Charlie Bear on her chest. She frowned as she looked up at Sarah's toy cupboards, "Hey, where's Lancelot?"

The happy look vanished from Sarah's face in a flash, "Someone's been in my room again!"

"Sarah…" Eve said warningly.

It was too late however, the damage had been done. Sarah threw off the striped beanie she had donned, and stormed out of her room. Eve followed her quickly, not wanting her friend to get worked into too big a rage at her infant half-brother.

When Sarah walked into the big room and saw Lancelot on the ground, an indignant cry broke out from her lips, as she rushed to pick him up and cradle him.

"Your step-mum probably gave Lancelot to him, there's no way Toby could have reached him," Eve pointed out; hoping that it might calm Sarah's anger.

But Sarah's angry green gaze was fixed on her brother, "Why can't you just stay away from my things? I don't care if she fetched Lancelot for you, you have your own toys, and she had no right to go grabbing mine!"

Toby started to cry even louder, picking up the rage directed towards him, but not understanding it.

"Sarah, it's fine," Eve tried to placate her friend, "C'mon, let's just leave him alone and have fun, it's my last week."

"I hate you," Sarah leaned in over Toby's crib, "I hate you!"

"Sarah!" Eve exclaimed. She didn't exactly like Toby herself, but she knew that Sarah didn't dislike him that much. She hated it when her friend got so worked up like this.

"I'll tell you a story Eve, and Toby can listen," Sarah's voice took on an ominous tone.

Eve just sighed, the sooner Sarah got this out of her system, the better. And at least she wasn't shouting anymore. Eve went over to Toby's crib and picked him up, rocking him gently in an effort to make him be quiet. It failed.

"Once upon a time," Sarah began, "There was a beautiful young girl whose stepmother always made her stay home with the baby. And the baby was a spoiled child, and wanted everything to himself, and the young girl was practically a slave. But what no one knew is that the king of the goblins had fallen in love with the girl, and he had given her certain powers. So one night, when the baby had be particularly cruel to her, she called on the goblins for help!"

Sarah came up to Eve, and took the still crying Toby from her arms. Eve sat down on the bed and began to fiddle with her hair.

"Sarah, enough."

"Shh, let me finish the story," Sarah admonished.

"'Say your right words,' the goblins said, 'and we'll take the baby to the castle, and you will be free!' But the girl knew, that the Goblin King would keep the baby in his castle for ever and ever and ever, and turn it into a goblin! And so the girl suffered in silence. Until one day, when she was tired from a day of housework, and she was hurt by the harsh words of her stepmother, and she could no longer stand it..."

Sarah looked down at her baby brother, Toby's face was wrinkled up with his sobs, and his cries only seemed to get louder.

"Stop it, stop crying."

"Sarah, why don't you give him to me? Let's just calm him down and watch a movie or something," Eve offered.

But Sarah's whole focus was now on her little brother.

"I'll say the words," she told Toby warningly, and when his sobs seemed to increase, she laughed, "Oh no, I mustn't."

Eve stood up, picked Lancelot up, and made as if to go towards the door, "C'mon Sarah, let's go."

"I can bear it no longer!" Sarah cried, holding Toby aloft, "Goblin King! Goblin King! Wherever you may be take this child of mine far away from me!"

No magic happened, no Goblin King came too take the baby away, Toby only kept on crying. Eve sighed, leaning against the wall, and deciding to just let her friend's dramatic sequence run its course.

"That's not it!"

Eve jumped, spinning around and casting her eye all over the room. That hadn't been Sarah's voice, Toby was too young to talk, but Eve had clearly heard a squeaky voice talking. She decided that she must have imagined it, but that didn't stop a light shiver from running up her spine. She told herself it hadn't been real, but the back of her neck still prickled.

"Sa-"

"It didn't even start with I wish!"

Eve's eyes widened and the creeping sensation she felt only increased. That had been another voice, different to the first, but similar. Sarah didn't seem to have noticed anything, she was busy putting Toby back in his crib. She shook her head with a final glance at him, then turned to Eve.

"Fine, let's go do something fun."

"Oh, yeah," Eve swallowed, "Let's."

"You okay?" Sarah inquired as she got closer, "You look even paler than normal."

"I'm fine," Eve put on a shaky grin, "Don't worry about it."

Sarah had her hand on the light switch as she took one last look at Toby's crib.

"I wish the goblins would take you away, right now," she said.

The moment Sarah flicked off the light, an unexplainable wave of unease hit Eve. Something similar clearly hit Sarah, because the two girls shared a look of shocked horror before they came to the same realisation.

Toby had stopped crying.


	2. If Wishes Are Real We Should be Afraid

**Chapter 2: If Wishes Are Real We Should All be Afraid**

Sarah and Eve nearly tripped over each other in their haste to get back into the bedroom. Eve beat Sarah, just, and reached for the light switch. She flicked it on, but nothing happened. She kept flickering it, still nothing.

"The power's out!" She exclaimed.

"Toby…" Sarah was inching her way towards the crib. "Why aren't you crying?"

"Sarah, something doesn't feel right." That prickling feeling had increased over Eve's skin, something was very wrong about what was happening. "I can't even hear him breathing."

"Toby, what's wrong?" Sarah was over the crib now, then she jumped back with a squeal. "Something moved!"

"Was it Toby?"

"He doesn't move like that." Sarah's hand reached out to the blanket, pulling it back to reveal an empty crib. "Oh no."

Eve heard snickers beside her, but when she turned there was no one there. Sarah's head had whipped around too, a frightened look in her eye.

"Did you hear them too?" Eve asked.

Sarah nodded wordlessly, then her eyes flicked to the bed. Eve saw something moving underneath the covers, before it plopped off the end. The snickers grew into peals of manic laughter that echoed all around the room. The storm was picking up ferocity, and Eve could see an owl flapping against the window hoping for shelter.

"Sarah!" The girls ran towards each other, holding hands tightly. "What's happening?"

"I don't know, I don't know." Sarah's voice was frantic. "Toby!"

The window crashed open letting in the wind and the rain. The owl flew into the room, swooping at Eve and Sarah, causing them to flinch back and lower their eyes. When next Eve looked up there was no owl, just a man standing in front of the window. He was tall, striking to look at, with haughty features and a smirk twisting his lips.

A horrible realisation sunk into Eve as she took in the events of the last minute. Toby disappearing, the snickers, the transforming man. It was real, everything Sarah had talked about, it was all real.

"You're the Goblin King." Eve breathed, her eyes saucer-wide as her mind boggled with the knowledge.

He flicked a glance in Eve's direction for the merest second before dismissing her and returning his cold eyes to Sarah.

_He is in love with her._ Eve thought to herself. _Or at least drawn to her in some way._

"Where is Toby? What have you done with him?" Sarah's voice wavered a little.

"You know very well where he is." The Goblin King adjusted the leather gloves sheathing his hands.

"You're him, aren't you? You're the Goblin King." Sarah came to the same conclusion Eve had reached. "I want my brother back if it's all the same."

"What's said is said." The Goblin King replied nonchalantly.

"But, I didn't mean it!" Sarah protested.

"Oh, you didn't?" He sounded amused.

Eve felt invisible to the both of them, it was only her hand gripping Sarah's that actually made her feel like she was a part of what was going on. She wanted to speak, but her throat felt swollen up and she couldn't get words out. She wasn't sure if it was fear or magic, the thought of the latter made her shiver.

"Sarah." The Goblin King's voice was a mix between commanding and reprimanding. "Take your friend back to your room. Play with your toys and your costumes. Forget about the baby."

"I can't. Don't you see that I can't?" Sarah looked to Eve. "We can't."

"Why won't you give him back? She didn't mean it, she didn't know it was real." Eve found her voice at last.

"What's said it said." He repeated, looking at her for the second time, this time seeming surprised. Eve felt her throat thicken again and now knew for sure it was him stopping her from talking. He looked satisfied with himself and nodded.

"I've brought you a gift." He turned back to Sarah, holding out his hand as a crystal ball materialised atop his fingertips.

"What is it?" Sarah frowned.

"It's a crystal. Nothing more." He began moving his arms in fluid waves, the crystal riding along as he turned it across his hands and up his arms. "But if you turn it this way and look into it, it will show you your dreams. But this is not a gift for an ordinary girl who takes care of screaming babies."

He proffered the crystal to Sarah, who barely looked at it. Eve however couldn't help but stare. It wasn't as though she was taking part in the conversation. Their words seemed to slip away from her as she found herself draw into the depth of the crystal. It was like looking through water. Water so clear that she could see every details, but still knew there was that thin barrier.

She swore she could see a garden, trees groaning with fruit and flowers of every colour. She saw people dancing in a glade. She saw a bird on a branch cocking its head at her. She saw one of the dancers turn and lock eyes with her. The rest of the dancers disappeared as though they had never been, only the dark haired man with the sad eyes remained. His eyes bored into Eve's with an expression of disbelief and mistrust.

Guilt twisted her stomach and she didn't know why. That look in his eyes… she felt as though she had personally wronged this man, but she had never seen him before in her life. Her birthmark itched, and when she slid a hand under her fringe to scratch it the mark felt warm. Eve was getting dizzy looking into the man's eyes, she felt as if she might faint, but then the crystal was gone.

A snake lay coiled in its place, dark and hissing. Eve had a moment to register shock before the creatures was thrown towards Sarah. Her friend let out a scream, dropping Eve's hand to pry it off. As she struggled Eve turned on the Goblin King in anger.

"What is your game? Why are you meddling in Sarah's life?"

"Ah!"

The snake had turned into a scarf which Sarah flung to the ground, it swirled itself into a goblin, who let out a high pitched snigger before running off. More laughter echoed around the room, but stopped before Eve could catch the goblins in the act.

"Who are you?" The Goblin King was frowning at Eve.

"Leave her alone!" Sarah stepped forwards again and took Eve's hand, also cutting off any response she would have made to the Goblin King. "I have to have my brother back!"

The Goblin King directed a wry smile to Sarah, then stepped to the side and gestured out of the window.

"He's there, in my castle. Do you still want to look for him?"

The view from the window was no longer the dark and stormy night. It was now daytime, or at least seemed to be. The air was hot and dry, Eve felt the hard ground beneath her feet. She looked down to discover she was no longer standing on the carpeted floor of Sarah's house, but a dusty red outcropping of rock.

Before her and Sarah there spanned a vast maze, more like a labyrinth, it stretched as far as Eve could see. Far off in the distance Eve could see castle towers rising above the walls. The labyrinth spanned as far to the side of the castle as it did from where they stood, Eve tried to follow a line from them to the castle, but her eyes refused to focus.

"Is that the castle beyond the Goblin City?" Sarah asked, nervousness seeping into her tone again.

_I have fought my way here to the castle beyond the Goblin City._

Oh god, this was 'Labyrinth', Sarah's story. How was this real? It was a book.

"Turn back, Sarah." The Goblin King advised. "Turn back before it's too late."

"Too late for what?" Eve asked. "What is going on? How is this happening?"

"Ah, you were never quite the believer Sarah was, were you?" The Goblin King sounded amused. "But you must have believed something, how else would you be here?"

"It doesn't look that far…" Sarah mused, still looking out towards the castle.

"It's further than you think, and time is short." The Goblin King gave Eve one last smirk before walking away from the girls and pointing at the clock that hadn't been there a moment ago. "You have thirteen hours in which to solve the Labyrinth before you baby brother becomes one of us…forever. _Such_ a pity…"

The Goblin King's voice faded out as he disappeared from view. He was gone before his last words finished, the hung in the air, taunting the girls with their sarcastic tone.

"How are we here, Sarah?" Eve turned to her friend. "What is happening?"

"It's real, all of it." Sarah's eyes drifted again towards the castle. "It's real, Eve. I have to solve the labyrinth and get Toby back."

"Look at it! It's huge!" Eve gestured out over the expanse. "You'll never be able to do it…alone."

"Eve." Sarah frowned. "This was my mistake, I wished Toby away, you don't have to get caught up in it."

"I already am." Eve pointed out. "I don't know how, but then again I don' know how any of this is working. But I'm not going to leave you to do this alone, we'll get him back."

"Thank you." Sarah reached out and gave Eve a tight hug. "Come on."

The girls joined hands and set off towards the Labyrinth, Eve having a little more trouble getting down the slope than Sarah. In her dress and ballet flats she wasn't as well dressed for adventure as her jeans-and-moccasin clad friend. They came to the closest point of the Labyrinth, a high stone wall with absolutely no markings or a door of any kind. Eve looked to the left and right but could see no sign of a door anywhere along the wall.

Little fairy-like creatures fluttered around the vines trailing up the walls, they had perfect, angelic, features. Several fluttered near to the girls, some flitting up to Eve's head and lifted at her hair, she swatted them away gently.

"Fifty seven!" A low voice said happily behind them. "Fifty eight!"

Both girls turned to find a…dwarf? Eve wasn't sure what else to classify the knobbly looking creatures as. He was walking around the nearby fountain with some kind of spray gun, squirting it at fairies and cheering as they fell to the ground.

"Hey!" Eve cried. "What did they ever do to you?"

"Huh?" The dwarf turned to them. "What's it matter to you?"

"You're horrible." Sarah chimed in, bending down to pick up one of the fallen fairies.

"No I ain't, I'm _Hoggle_!" The dwarf protested. "And who are you two anyway? There's never two."

"I'm Eve." Eve held out her hand to shake the dwarf's. Things were weird enough as it was, so why not?

The dwarf frowned at the hand, clearly not knowing what to do with it, so Eve dropped it. He then shifted his frown to Eve, giving her a curious once over.

"What?" She demanded, feeling a little uncomfortable under his scrutiny.

"Ow!" Sarah exclaimed, dropping the fairy and looking down at her hand in confusion. "It bit me!"

"What?" Eve looked away from the dwarf and back to her friend, seeing a red mark on Sarah's hand. She became a lot more cautious of the fairies hovering around. She caught a couple of them giggling when they saw her staring, they waved innocently, but Eve looked away.

"What'd you expect fairies to do?" The dwarf sounded unimpressed.

"I thought they did nice things!" Sarah looked to Eve for back up. "Like granting wishes!"

"That's genies." Eve corrected.

The dwarf looked between the two of them and shook his head. "Genies, ha! 59!"

"I'm Sarah." Sarah introduced herself.

"That's what I thought." The dwarf said with a resigned shrug.

"Do you know where a door to the Labyrinth is?" Eve asked him, tired of his strange banter.

"Maybe." He shrugged again. "60!"

"Well, where is it?" Sarah prompted after a few seconds. "We are running out of time."

"Where is what?"

"The door!" Sarah and Eve both exclaimed, getting increasingly exasperated.

"What door?" The dwarf continued scoping around for the fairies who had lost their interest in the girls and were keen to avoid his spray.

"This is hopeless." Sarah muttered.

Eve made a noise of agreement and turned away from the frustrating dwarf. She ran her hands along the wall, hoping to feel for an opening. She drew her hand back with a hiss when a fairy hiding behind a vine bit her. She scowled at the little creature, who only winked in response.

"Not if you ask the right question." The dwarf said mysteriously.

"Can you tell us where the door is?" Eve questioned.

"Maybe." He replied again, smirking a little.

"How do we get into the Labyrinth?" Sarah asked.

"Ah, now _that's_ more like it!" The dwarf sounded satisfied. "Of course you'd be the one to come up with that."

"Hey!" Eve frowned. "What's the supposed to mean?"

The dwarf ignored her, much the same way the Goblin King had done earlier, it was starting to annoy Eve.

"You gets in there."

He gestured behind them, Eve turned to see a door opening where there had been vine covered stone before. Eve felt a cold gust of wind escape from within, and the air felt noticeably chillier when she took a step within the new opening. Sarah walked with her, and they stared down the lanes stretching left and right.

"This wasn't here before." Eve ran a hand across the wooden door.

"Don't take this place for granted." The dwarf warned. "You really going in there?"

"We have to." Sarah answered somewhat distractedly, peering down towards the right.

"_You_ do." The dwarf corrected, then gestured at Eve. "What about you?"

"Of course I'm going in, I'm not letting Sarah in alone." Eve replied. "Why do you care anyway?"

"If you want my advice, you shouldn't go in there." The dwarf shook his head.

"Why?"

"You might not like what you find, and you might not come out again."

A chill ran over Eve, but she wasn't about to leave Sarah.

"I think you're just trying to scare me." She said confidently. "I'm going in."

"Suit yourself, but don't say I didn't warn you both." The dwarf left with a disgusted head shake, slamming the doors shut behind him, sealing the girls into the Labyrinth.


End file.
